2022

Ahead of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Summit, research and innovation organisations voice concerns regarding the Intellectual Property (IP) provisions for EIC-funded Transition and Pathfinder projects. As they currently stand, the provisions create serious obstacles to the knowledge valorisation services undertaken by research-performing organisations. This poses serious threats to the exploitation of research outcomes.

Which Guild universities are featured on the euro coins? Or which is the oldest university in the world? For this holiday season, The Guild has created an advent calendar which contains fun facts about our member universities. Take a look!

On 23 and 24 November, representatives of The Guild are contributing to a transcontinental dialogue about the draft AU-EU Innovation Agenda in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside their colleagues from the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities are intensifying their unique partnership, as Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of the two networks laid the foundations for new types of partnerships, grounded on equity and inclusion.

The Guild organised last week a workshop on private law, bringing together over 20 doctoral candidates and professors from across The Guild member universities.

Poland’s oldest university, Jagiellonian University, provided a rich setting for The Guild’s autumn General Assembly meeting that focused on how to strengthen open scientific collaboration at a time of growing global tensions.

This year’s Nobel Prize awards, including to Emeritus Professor Anton Zeilinger from the University of Vienna and Professor Svante Pääbo, alumnus of Uppsala University, demonstrate the necessity for Europe to invest in excellence across the entire research pipeline.

Two new rectors of The Guild’s member universities, the University of Tübingen and the University of Vienna, have started their positions on 1 October, marking a new chapter in their universities’ commitment to excellence in research and teaching, and their dedication to internationalisation.

The Guild, together with research and university organisations, calls for the member states to reverse the proposed cuts for the 2023 budget of Horizon Europe. A financially well-equipped Horizon Europe is key to addressing the current and future challenges European citizens are facing, and for Europe to secure its global competitiveness.

The Guild’s Vice-Presidents gathered in Bern on 7-8 September to discuss the key policy issues for the upcoming year. Hosted by the University of Bern, the meeting highlighted the importance of rapid association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe.

On 30 August, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild organised an info session on the MSCA Doctoral Networks funding scheme. With the call for 2022 currently ongoing, the event provided practical insights from the European Commission and previous grant holders on how to set up successful applications.

Published on 5 July, the New European Innovation Agenda puts forward a number of key actions to develop the innovation ecosystems in Europe. By putting emphasis on deep tech, the Agenda misses to embrace all types of innovation and neglects the crucial role of some actors, including universities, in developing these ecosystems.

In the past year, the EU has become increasingly important for universities. In turn, universities, through their research, innovation and education, have become more central to EU policymaking. Key initiatives, from the EU strategy for universities to digital and health policies, have had major implications for research and higher education. Moreover, the war in Ukraine has changed geopolitics profoundly, forcing universities to reassess their position and approaches regarding international relations. Through its working groups and the leadership of the General Assembly, The Guild engaged with a growing range of policy areas, while also bringing new depths to our work on Horizon Europe and Erasmus+, alongside the European Research and Education Areas. Finally, last year also brought significant advances to our collaboration; internally, and with our close partner, the African Research Universities Alliance.

Contributing to MEP Christian Ehler’s report on the implementation of the European Innovation Council (EIC), The Guild calls for the EIC to better recognise the role of universities’ technology transfer offices as key actors in the emergence of breakthrough innovations.

After two years of virtual meetings, The Guild had the pleasure to host its Presidents in person at the General Assembly meeting on 7-8 June 2022. On the agenda were many key topics from the Green Deal to foreign interference and the research assessment reform.

How can universities manage the tensions and expectations regarding international orientation and local embeddedness, where has the Bologna Process brought us, and what should be the next phase? These were some of the key themes discussed in our virtual seminar, hosted by the University of Tübingen.

The Guild expresses concerns about the provisions in the Horizon Europe grant agreement that give ‘EIC inventors’ indefinite royalty-free access rights. Ensuring that universities across Europe have well-functioning knowledge and technology transfer offices would be a better approach to maximise the exploitation of research results.

Ahead of the June Competitiveness Council, where the ministers will be invited to adopt conclusions on research assessment and implementation of Open Science policies, The Guild urges the member states to ensure that Open Access serves science, not publishers.

The Guild welcomes the publication, on Tuesday 3rd May, of the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on the European Health Data Space (EHDS). While contributing to the building of the European Health Union, the proposal recognises the particular sensitivities of health data and the ethics of its use. The Guild fully underlines the urgency of finding solutions to unleash the full potential of shared health data to help scientists develop new treatments for patients and improve the wellbeing of citizens in Europe.

The German U15, The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, and Udice emphasise the necessity to strengthen international cooperation in research to meet global challenges.

The Guild welcomes the Council conclusions on a European strategy empowering higher education institutions for the future of Europe. We particularly welcome the expressed desire for Europe to be a safe haven for the freedom of scientific research and democratic values. Europe must stand out as a place where universities are supported through European and national schemes to welcome students, researchers and academics whose freedom is under threat.

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities joins a coalition of organisations representing Europe’s universities and other organisations enabling, funding and performing research to issue an urgent call to exclude not-for-profit research and research-enabling services from the obligations of the Digital Services Act.

This week, the EU member states will discuss how to best coordinate their responses to cross-border health threats. The Guild highlights that lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic must be drawn in this regard and that the EPSCO Council and the Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices should give a stronger impetus to initiatives aimed at facilitating larger and multinational clinical trials. We urge the member states and the European Commission to address critical obstacles that researchers are facing when conducting multinational clinical trials, particularly regarding the sharing and reuse of health data.

Universities’ role in the changing geopolitical situation was the key theme as The Guild’s Vice-Presidents gathered for their second meeting this year on 17 March.

The Guild issues a set of recommendations for concrete support measures to help staff and students from Ukraine, urging the European Commission, the French Presidency of the Council, and the national governments to support universities effectively and flexibly.